Historically Speaking: Thermos in Norwich had customers worldwide

Sunday

Apr 21, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 21, 2013 at 9:00 PM

Admiral Richard E. Byrd had achieved his mission. Once settled in his temporary base camp at the North Pole, he took pen in hand and hastily wrote a note to his wife, Mary. He was feeling lonely and alone and told his wife in writing that with all his successes, fame and riches, it meant nothing to him as much as his being with her at that time.

RICHARD CURLAND

Admiral Richard E. Byrd had achieved his mission. Once settled in his temporary base camp at the North Pole, he took pen in hand and hastily wrote a note to his wife, Mary. He was feeling lonely and alone and told his wife in writing that with all his successes, fame and riches, it meant nothing to him as much as his being with her at that time.

Not 3 feet from his writing table was his personal Thermos bottle or jug, made in Norwich. Lt. Robert Peary had one in the Arctic, The Wright Brothers carried one in their airplane experiments, and Count F. Von Zeppelin had one in his airship.

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, thousands of allied bombers carried Thermos flasks with them in their flights. A B24D Liberator, on a return bombing raid, failed to return to its home base in April 1943. Members of the crew were officially listed as missing in action. In 1958, the nearly intact plane was spotted, and in the spring of 1959, it was found at a crash site in the Libyan Desert. Though damaged, it was miraculously preserved, with working machine guns, a working radio and various supplies. A thermos of tea was found to be drinkable. The plane was named Lady Be Good, and the incident was dramatized on the "The Twilight Zone" and in a number of films.

In addition, the vacuum flask was used in the trenches of World War I, and Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton took one with him to the South Pole.

The thermos was invented in 1892 by Sir James Dewar, an Oxford University scientist. It was first manufactured for commercial use in 1904. The term came from the Greek word "therme," meaning heat. A Munich resident named it in a contest in Germany.

The American Thermos Bottle Company organized in Brooklyn, N.Y., in September 1908. It moved to Norwich in 1913 to take advantage of convenient rail and river transportation. In its first five years, the company had nearly doubled in size, and one year after its location transfer, the Thermos bottle (or jug) was honored at seven world expositions.

Thermos, at one time, was a registered trademark in more than 115 countries. Early newspaper and magazine ads helped to popularize the product, especially those in The Saturday Evening Post. The growth of early railroad dining cars also aided in bringing attention to the thermal innovation.

The 1916 coffee thermos included a "carrying case" as a novel feature. Scientists and researchers have also used the thermos in unique ways, such as transporting tropical fish, bones, blood and hormones. NASA used a thermos for storing certain types of rocket fuels.

Many celebrities over the years have endorsed the jug or referred to it in advertisements and films. William Dunkenfield, better known as comedian W.C. Fields, told an interviewer that he sipped his martinis from his Thermos. When Hollywood turned out war films during and after World War II, many scenes involving major stars used thermos as props.

By the end of World War II, The Thermos Company on Laurel Hill employed more than 1,000 workers. Production of Thermos products was discontinued in Norwich in 1988 after a 75-year run.

Historically Speaking, which appears Sundays, presents short historical stories written by Richard Curland of the Norwich Historical Society in cooperation with society president Bill Champagne. Call the society at (860) 886-1776.